Last Chance for One Last Dance
by angels in wonderland
Summary: A oneshot describing the last minutes of Tony Starks life, with Pepper Potts. He knows he's about to die, but he can't leave her without one last dance. Pepper/Tony. WARNING: Character death.


**A/N****: My first Iron Man fic! I wrote this on the way back from the cruise I was just on. A depressing day calls for a depressing story! So, I killed Tony Stark. :(**

**Summary****: This is a oneshot describing the last couple of minutes of Tony Starks life, with Pepper Potts. He knows he's about to die, but he can't leave her without one last dance.**

**WARNINGS****: Character death.**

**Pairings****: Tony/Pepper.**

**Disclaimer****: I have come to another sad realization today. On top of the fact that I am no longer on a cruise, I… do not own Iron Man. Marvel does. And some other rightful owners. How depressing, right? Oh, and the title is a line from Nickelback's "Far Away."**

They had danced together three times that night at the awards banquet. This dance was different, though. Sometime, between the first verse and the chorus, Tony Stark realized what was going on. He was surrounded.

Obadiah Stane's men were positioned all around the dance floor. He saw at least one at every exit and entrance. Most of them were conspicuously watching Tony; others were silently communicating with each other using hand signals.

"Tony?" A soft voice called his name two more times before he registered it as his girlfriend, Pepper's. She hadn't noticed the men around them. Tony himself wouldn't have noticed had it not been for the fact that he recognized most of them from Stark Industries. These were many of the men that he jokingly referred to as Stane's "cronies." They blended in with the crowd, dressed for the event and not visibly armed.

"Yeah?" He turned to see her looking at him; he could see the concern in her expression.

"Are you feeling alright?"

He knew he couldn't lie to her. She knew him too well for that. Pepper could usually read his emotions better than he could.

He made an attempt anyways. "Yeah, perfect." He saw the skeptical look she shot. "Why do you ask?"

"Your hands are shaking." She gave his hand, the one that wrapped around her own small one, a quick squeeze.

She was right. He wished someone would hit him and tell him to get it together. If he couldn't control his emotions, there was no way he could keep Pepper calm through this ordeal. Until the "cronies" fulfilled whatever they had planned for him. Then it would be out of his control.

"Really? I don't think they are." He tried to ease the shaking by tracing shapes across the smooth skin of Pepper's hand with his thumb. The other hand, which was resting lightly on the small of her back, he used to pull her closer to him.

Tony looked away from her for a moment to glance around the room. The men at the doors had not moved, but the others were much closer now. It was sad that it had come to this. These men used to _work for him_. Now they were here to kill him. He figured that Obadiah had given them orders to finish him off if anything had gone wrong with Stane in the Iron Monger suit. Now that Tony, with the help of Pepper, had killed him using the arc reactor, they were here to carry out their duties. Tony was surprised they had taken five months to act. He supposed it was because they were waiting for a moment in which he were vulnerable; without the suit, without weapons, just like he was now.

Pepper saw his nervous glances and spoke up again. "Tony, what's going on?" The tone in her voice told him she was getting scared.

"It's nothing, honey, don't worry about it." He held her tightly against his chest. He didn't know how much more time he would get to hold her in his arms. His senses were at their highest. He wanted to take in as much of her as he could in the last minutes… or _seconds_ of his life. Her soft skin beneath his fingers. The wonderful scent of her vibrant ginger hair. The dress that she looked amazing in. It was the same dress that she had danced with him in for the first time. And now, it would be the dress that she danced with him in for the last time.

His entire body was trembling now as he thought this, and as Stane's men closed in on him. The quiet ticking of his watch pounded in his head, counting away the seconds he had left. When he looked at Pepper again, he could see tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to pour over. He wished he could stop shaking; that was what had her so terrified.

"Tony, please, tell me what's happening." She was growing more frustrated by the second.

"Just keep dancing, ok? Don't let it bother you," was all he said. His voice shook slightly along with the rest of his body, but it was such a slight difference that if anyone else had been listening, that would not have noticed.

He looked at her, her face that was breathtaking even through fear, her wide eyes staring up into his own. He hated having to leave her like this. Pepper was the only woman he had ever wanted for more than just having fun. He cared about her. He loved her.

He tried going through his options.

The first: run. But where to? The men were all too close. Even if he got past the first group, there were the men guarding the doors. He had nothing against a group of thirty or forty men, all ready to kill him, without his suit. No protection against their weapons, no weapons of his own. Any way he ran, he would run straight into at least one of his attackers. And if he happened to slip by them, which was unlikely, what about Pepper?

The second: call for help. There was security. He could yell, but by the time security could get over there and understand the situation, the deed would already be done.

The third: take it without struggle, prolonging his life for those last precious moments with Pepper.

While thinking this through, tears had begun to fall from Pepper's eyes. She had recognized one of the men, who was now grinning at her. He flashed something to her from the inside of his suit coat, too fast for Tony to see. It was a weapon. He didn't want to know what kind. He pulled her even closer, but loosened his grip when she winced as he miniature arc reactor dug into her.

"Shhh… Pepper, don't cry…" he whispered soothingly. "They aren't going to hurt you." He was glad he could at least keep his voice under control. He leaned down and brushed his lips against her collarbone, then up her neck and to her jawbone, between each kiss whispering to her, "please don't cry." He kissed the spot on her cheek where a tear had just fallen. He stopped just before he got to her lips.

"I can't tell you how much I love you. You mean more to me than anyone I've ever known." He gave her a week, apologetic smile. Tony wasn't one for original, Hallmark-worthy romantic lines. He bent down, swinging her into a dip. He pressed his lips against hers so hard he was afraid he had hurt her. He heard the faint splash of some of Pepper's tears hitting the floor, followed by the sound of footsteps stepping quickly behind him. The kiss was passionate, and as all kisses do, had to end, and sooner than he wanted. He tried to hold back his own tears. He knew this was the last time he would ever kiss her.

He brought her back up slowly, savoring every moment. That's when he felt it. The sharp, stabbing pain between his shoulder blades. A knife. He had not been expecting that. Stane's group must have not wanted to cause any bigger of a scene than they would already end up causing. The sound of a gun would have sent people stampeding out the doors.

For just a moment, Tony wondered if it were true, about your life flashing before your eyes before you die. He didn't want to see it. He wanted to see no further than the past year of his life. He didn't want to see the terrible fight with his father just before he left the house on the fateful day of his parents' deaths. He didn't want to see the partying, the alcohol, or the countless amount of girls he had slept with. He would much rather have the life _after_ his figurative and literal change of heart. Saving people. Spending time with Pepper. Being _happy_.

He screamed in pain as the blade re-entered his body two more times. It may have been more, but he couldn't feel it over the pain of the first two wounds. He felt the cold floor crash against his back and his head. When he opened his eyes, there was chaos in the crowd, and people were looking down at him. Pepper was frantically shouting his name, kneeling over him. She was holding his hand, and he felt her kiss the back of it.

After that, the pain faded more quickly than he had thought it would. The room spun as blood drained from his body. Black blurred the edges of his vision, quickly taking over everything above him. The last thing he saw in his life was a blur of bright red hair. He felt at peace. Pepper would be happy again someday. She was strong.

And then, everything disappeared.

**A/N****: Not quite sure how I like this one. But let me know what you think. :) You will get one of my world-famous reviewcookies! Point out typos, opinions, whatever you want.**

**A big thanks to my sister, Gina, who beta-read it for me.**


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